Anchors in the Sky
by ThisIsMyGuise
Summary: Rose is a drifter, travelling from town to town, taking any job she can find. She's always on the move, never looking back at the places she's passed through. But then she - quite literally - runs into Dimitri Belikov who manages to make her question her whole philosophy on life. Rose starts to wonder if maybe he's the one who can anchor her down once and all. Pure fluffy fun
1. Chapter 1

I fumbled through my bag, intent on trying to locate my phone that lay beneath the pile of rubbish that was currently cohabitating my purse. Lissa would flip if I didn't call her straight away. She was the type of person who assumed that if I didn't call her when I said I would, it meant that I was lying lifeless in a ditch after being strangled to death by the not so-friendly-stranger I had hitched a lift with. She was a worrier. She was a dramatist. She panicked too much for my liking. In fact, it was kind of insulting. After all, I made sure not to get into vehicles whose drivers seemed like psychopaths.

Lissa had always frowned upon my decision to skip college and go travelling instead. Apparently, not only was I risking my life, I was risking my future. Not that that actually made sense; if I did end up being murdered on some lonely highway, I wasn't exactly going to be in a fit state to go job hunting. My best friend did not appreciate my sense of humour though. She just tutted at me from behind her textbook, before getting back to her studying.

Lissa and I were definitely opposites. She was a straight A student who actually liked being in school. She liked having her home comforts. She liked being sensible. She even had a five point plan for the future. I, on the other hand, hated school. I wasn't really that materialistic. I definitely wasn't sensible. And I had no clue what my future entailed.

No, I much preferred being on the road, travelling from town to town and exploring the world. Well, when I say world, I really mean country, because no matter how much of an explorer I wished I was, there was no way I could afford to leave America. I couldn't even afford a plane ticket to freaking Canada.

Instead, I went from town to town, taking any job I could to pay my way. I stayed for a few weeks to a month, meeting people and making new friends and awesome memories before hitchhiking to the next town, never looking back on the places I had passed through. It was a system I was quite fond of. It was a system I was happy to live by for the rest of my life.

But before I could move on, I had to phone Lissa and inform her that I was still alive and kicking. I swear, that girl acted more like a mother towards me than my own mom did. Whilst I highly doubted that my mom even knew what state I was currently in, Lissa demanded to know my every movement.

It was like a lucky dip, searching through my bag. I had no idea what I was going to pull out, and all I could do was pray that it wasn't something embarrassing. My idea of packing consisted of throwing my worldly belongings into my luggage without much thought of organisational skill, and so I had no idea what was currently living in my handbag. I just hoped that I wouldn't pull out a bra or something even more embarrassing, because I highly doubted that the good people of Missoula, Montana, would appreciate me whipping out my undergarments in the middle of their high street.

Triumphantly though, after a few failed attempts, I managed to locate my phone. I pulled it out of the depths of my bag slowly, grinning like an idiot when I realised that not only had I managed to find my phone, I had also managed to locate my half eaten Mars Bar that was currently stuck to the screen of my cell. I checked the chocolate bar carefully, making sure that there wasn't anything funky living in the creamy caramel before happily munching on it.

After I had finished eating my snack, I wiped to remaining caramel off of the screen, before scrolling through my contacts. Over the past year and a half, I had acquired numerous numbers from the many people I had met on my travels. Although at the time I promised to stay in touch, I never did. It was near impossible. I had met hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Not only that, but the whole point of my journey was to carry on moving. I didn't have time to keep in contact with everyone. Plus there was the fact that in every new town I went to, there were always people more interesting and more caring to replace the last bunch of friends I had made.

I dialled Lissa's number, praying that she was in lectures and unable to answer. It was always awkward having this conversation with her, because there wasn't much to say other than _'I'm here and I'm fine'_. At first, I used to leave long and descriptive messages depicting my bloody, but fictional, murder. Yet again, Lissa hadn't been impressed with my humour. She never was impressed with my humour, to be honest, although I liked to think I was a comic genius.

My call went straight to her answer phone. I glanced up, listening to Lissa's pre-recorded message and scanned the high street, trying to find a hotel that I could crash at whilst I was in town. Luckily, there was one straight across the street.

"Hey Liss, it's me. I'm here. I'm fine. Give me a call later. Love you," I barked off dutifully, before hanging up and stepping out into the road.

I was more focused on my phone than the road. I was more focused on getting a room and sleeping on a bed that was actually a bed. For the last few nights I had been slumming it on a bus terminal's floor. All I wanted was a good sit down and a nice, warm shower. I was preoccupied, I admit it.

Plus, who actually had time to check the road before crossing? I was a free spirit. I lived in the moment. I was reckless and careless. I didn't exactly do road safety.

But that didn't mean I didn't swear loudly when the sound of a horn blared vociferously and a car hurtled towards me. It wasn't as if I was expecting to be nearly run down on my first day in town. That sort of thing tended to happen just as I was leaving, when the locals got fed up with my excessively annoying behaviour and wanted me to leave straight away.

Luckily for me though, the driver had seen me in time and applied his brakes, hard, leaving me to look like a total idiot stood dumbstruck in the middle of the road. He got out of his car and walked towards me. "Are you okay?" he asked in a concerned voice, a sultry accent that I couldn't quite place lacing his words.

All I could do was stare in awe at this godly creature standing in front of me. The guy might have just nearly killed me, but that didn't matter. In fact, I was pretty sure that he could do whatever he wanted with me and I wouldn't particularly mind. He was hot. No, he was a swelteringly one hundred degrees of hotness. I could feel myself getting a tad bit excited just looking at him.

"Ma'am? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked again, peering down at me. He was tall. He was like a statue towering down on me.

Again, I didn't answer him. Instead, I looked up at him and started laughing hysterically. He was probably around his mid-twenties, so a good few years older than me, and for some reason I found it extremely funny that he was referring to me as 'ma'am'. I was definitely not a 'ma'am'. I was definitely not some respectable woman.

He frowned, obviously worried that I had gone into some sort of shock. He muttered something about going to get help and started to walk away, but I grabbed hold of his arm and stopped him. "Did you seriously just call me 'ma'am'?" I asked him, in between my giggles.

He nodded slowly, probably regretting his decision to stop his car before it hit me. His day probably would be a lot easier if he had killed the crazy woman standing in the middle of the road.

"I'm Rose," I said, offering my name as I smiled brightly at him. "And I'm fine, by the way." To be honest, this hadn't been how I had pictured my first day in Missoula, but I wasn't going to complain. After all, life was an adventure, and I supposed nearly being killed was sort of an adventure. Plus, the guy was hot. Very hot. So hot that I couldn't actually think of anything other than how hot he was.

He was tall, probably a good foot taller than me. He had one of those extremely irresistible chiselled faces, framed by brown hair that fell to the nape of his neck. I wasn't really fond of guys with long hair, but it worked on him. Oh my, it definitely worked on him.

"Are you sure?" he asked, as if not believing that I was alright. I smiled at him, slightly – and by slightly I meant extremely happy – that he was concerned about my wellbeing. Not that he had any reason to be concerned, because it wasn't like he had actually hit me. He had managed to stop his car about three metres away from me.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure my name is Rose," I replied quickly, making a joke out of the whole situation. Like I said, I was a freaking comic genius. He frowned at me, obviously not following my hectic train of thought. An awkward silence fell on us, and feeling like an idiot, I felt the need to explain my little joke. "I just told you my name and you asked me if I was sure about it..." I told him lamely.

"I know, I got it," the mystery guy replied, making the situation even more awkward. I tore my eyes away from him and glanced down at the floor, the high street and hotel, looking everywhere but him. "You know, you should be more careful. You could have seriously injured yourself," he informed me, as if I was unaware that getting knocked down by a car would hurt.

"I know, I get it," I parroted him, hoping that either this painful conversation would end soon or some other car would come and run me down, ending the conversation between me and this guy. Yes, he was hot. Yes, I could stare at him all day and fantasise about all the things I wanted to do with him. But this conversation we were having was just so excruciatingly uncomfortable. But, then again, to be fair, the things I wanted to do didn't exactly include talking. I had other things in mind for what our mouths could be doing. "Thanks for not killing me."

"It's, er, okay. I'm Dimitri Belikov, by the way," he said, playing with his car keys. I nodded and smiled, before taking a step back.

"It's been nice meeting you, Dimitri Belikov. Just try not to kill anyone else on your travels," I informed him lightly, still laughing at how bizarre my day had turned out. Without looking at him, I checked the road again, careful not to get nearly run over for the second time in a day and crossed the road, throwing one hand up in the air to wave at him as I made my way towards the hotel.

I knew he was still there, watching me walk away, which probably explained why I shook my hips slightly as I walked away. I laughed to myself, knowing that my time in Missoula, Montana, was definitely going to be interesting, especially if I ended up running into a certain someone again.

* * *

**AN: I've been in a bit of a rut lately, and I thought the best medicine for that would to write some good ol' marshmallow fluff. So this is by first attempt at writing anything like this (if you've read my other story, Pillars of Sand, you'll know I'm quite into my angst) and I hope you like it. This is probably going to be 5-10 chapters long, so yeah...read and review =]**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN VA**


	2. Chapter 2

By my rough calculations, I had to find a job in five days otherwise I would be living on the streets. The hotel I had picked wasn't exactly the cheapest, but it was the safest. In every town I went to, I had that issue; that dilemma. I could either slum it in some sleazy motel and lay awake at night listening to the hooker next door make some money, or I could fork out for somewhere a little bit more up class and not worry about sleeping on a bug infested, disease infested mattress.

I had spent the entire afternoon trying to find a job. I was pretty much willing to work anywhere. I had pretty much worked everywhere. I was a great waitress, I was a great barmaid, I could clean, I could cook, I could stock shelves. I was pretty versatile, which was great if there were any jobs going. But there wasn't. There was absolutely nothing.

Most people had been pretty nice to me. They took my number and said they'd call me if anything came up, but I knew as soon as I stepped outside my number would end up in their trash can. I sighed, glancing up at the darkening sky. It was edging towards evening, which meant most places where about to close up for a day.

I was going to go into one more place – a bar just down the street – before giving up for the day as well. There was no point fighting a losing battle. If nothing came up them I would just have to move onto the next town. I walked down the street until I got to the bar and pushed the door open, before entering.

The room was dimly lit, making it hard to actually make out most of them room. That said, I was able to judge the place the moment I walked in. It was pretty seedy and sleazy, but I had been in worse places. Plus, this was probably the type of place that would be willing to hire me.

At nineteen, I wasn't even supposed to be in a bar, let alone work behind a bar, but I had found that most places like this didn't care what age you were. All they wanted was a pretty face, and not to sound vain or anything, but I had one hell of a pretty face.

I walked towards the bar, careful not to make eye contact with any of the customers. I perched on a bar stool and waited for the guy who was serving a group of middle aged men who were currently checking me out to finish dealing with their order. A couple of minutes later, he sauntered over. "And what can I do for you?" he asked, in what I guessed was supposed to be in a seductive voice. It wasn't. It was pervy. The guy was like, forty odd.

I shuddered, but forced a polite smile. "I was wondering if there was any jobs going?"

"Hang on, I'll go talk to the boss and see what I can do," he told me with a wink. Again, I shuddered, part of me praying that there weren't any jobs going. I had worked in some pretty bad places. I had worked in some right dives. And I had been perved on before. But that didn't mean I enjoyed it. I was already planning on getting back to my hotel room and getting a nice long shower so I could scrub this memory away.

A minute or two later he reappeared, looking downfallen. "Sorry sweet pea," he told me, leaving me to wonder when, in our five minute long acquaintance, we had acquired cutesy nicknames for each other. "No can do, I'm afraid."

"Oh, that's a shame," I replied dryly, although I think my sarcasm was lost on the barman. He was about to reply, but someone else at the bar called out for his attention, giving me chance to escape. I spun around and took a step forward, wanting to leave this not-so-lovely establishment before I caught anything, but instead of walking into an empty space, I walked into a wall.

Or should I say body. I stumbled slightly, but quickly regained my balance. "Sorry," I muttered, although not really meaning it. I mean, what kind of weirdo stands right behind someone? It was creepy. I looked up at whoever I had walked into, expecting it to be some creepy old guy, but instead, I was pleasantly surprised. "Well, well, if it isn't Dimitri Belikov. I say, we must stop running into each other like this," I told him chirpily.

"Oh, hey," he replied lamely. Inwardly, I grimaced. It wasn't exactly the greeting I was expecting. I was more hoping of something along the lines of 'You're hot. Want to have dinner?' but no, all I got was 'Oh, hey'.

"Here I was, thinking that we had shared a real special moment together this morning, and all I get is 'oh, hey'? I'm hurt, Dimitri Belikov. I'm deeply hurt," I said jokingly, but yet again my sense of humour seemed lost on him. I don't think he appreciated my quick, witty remarks.

Again, an awkward silence descended on the pair of us, as Dimitri tried to think of something to say in response to my comment. I couldn't blame him really for faltering; I wasn't exactly a normal person who he could have a normal conversation with. "What are you doing here?" he asked, choosing, in the end, to completely ignore my comment and move the conversation on. It was a pretty wise choice, I had to admit.

"I'm waiting for you to offer to buy me a drink. It's the least you can do, you know, seeing as you did nearly kill me this morning," I told him, not thinking that he would actually agree to it. After all, even though I had only spoken to him twice, both times were awkwardly awkward. He probably wanted me to disappear and leave him in peace, and although that seemed like an alright plan, he was too pretty for me to leave the bar and spend the evening sitting in my hotel room, completely alone.

To my surprise, and possibly to Dimitri's surprise as well, he replied with, "What do you want to drink?"

"Whatever you're having," I replied, not too fussed to be honest. I wasn't actually a massive drinker, partially because it was illegal and partially because I was reckless enough without adding alcohol to my system.

Dimitri ordered two beers before leading me to a table in the far corner, away from the middle aged guys drooling over me. "Thanks," I told him, referring both to the drink and the fact that he realised how uncomfortable I had been standing in the middle of the bar whilst half of the room got an erection as they tried to peer down my top.

"It's okay," he replied with a shrug.

Not wanting the conversation to dry up or get awkward, I thought I'd try and act normal for a change. "So, tell me about yourself, Dimitri Belikov."

"Why do you do that?" Dimitri asked me suddenly, causing me to frown at his question. I knew I was pretty hard to follow, but I had no idea where that question came from.

"What?" I asked him unintelligently.

"Call me by my whole name. It's weird," he told me.

I gasped at his comment. It was most definitely not weird. "It's not weird. It's endearing," I informed him pointedly. He just laughed and shook his head in disagreement, but said no more. "Every great friendship has to have nicknames," I told him.

Again, he laughed. It was hard not to notice how delicious he looked when he smiled. He had one of those laughs that were addictive; it left you wanting to hear it again and again, like some sort of drug. "When did we become 'great friends'?" Dimitri asked, actually putting speech marks around the 'great friends' bit. I gasped at him again, dramatically putting my hand over my mouth as I mocked surprise and disgust at his comment.

"You can be so cruel with your words," I told him, trying to keep a straight face about it but failing miserably. I couldn't help but laugh. I had only met this guy earlier in the day, and yet here I was, having so much fun with him. It wasn't as if I wanted to be friends with him; the things I had in mind definitely weren't appropriate things you did with your friends. But I wanted him to like me. I wanted him to want me. "You're Russian, right?" I guessed; in actuality I wasn't too sure. I mean his name sounded Russian, and he definitely had an accent, but I had no idea where he was from. He nodded though, and I smiled, suddenly thinking of the perfect nickname for him. "Well then, if you don't like being called Dimitri Belikov – which, for the record, is weird seeing as that's your name – I will now refer to you as Comrade. Is that alright, Comrade?"

"Do I have any choice in the matter?" he asked me, cautiously. From the looks of it, Dimitri wasn't exactly the type of guy who had ever had a nickname, but that was all going to change now that I was in town.

"You're a fast learner. And no, you don't have any choice in the matter," I told him, smiling brightly. "Now, Comrade, tell me about yourself," I demanded.

Again, to my surprise, he did tell me about himself. He told me how his family – comprising of himself, his three sisters, his mother and his grandmother – had moved from Russia to America when he was a kid for a fresh start. He told me that he 26. He told me that he was currently working as a mechanic but that he didn't want to do that job for the rest of his life.

To my surprise, I actually listened intently to everything he said, without making a sound. Not one sarcastic, humour-filled comment left my lips the entire time. I wasn't exactly known for having a great attention span, but the entire time Dimitri was speaking, I was completely focused on him. Well, I was mesmerised by his lips at least.

"What about you, then? You're not from around here, are you?" Dimitri asked me, pushing his empty beer bottle away. One drink had turned into two, and two had quickly accumulated into four.

"I guess you could say I'm a drifter," I admitted. "I'm constantly travelling from place to place. Other than that I'm pretty boring."

Dimitri snorted quietly at my response. "Yeah, because you seem awfully boring," he replied playfully.

I rolled my eyes at him and shrugged. "Fine, I admit it. I'm awesome. But I don't want to ruin the allure. I like to stay an enigma," I joked, trying not to sound too pretentious, even though it was true. I was awesome. And hopefully, just hopefully, Dimitri was finding me extremely alluring.

"So I'm taking it you've only just arrived in town?"

I nodded, taking a sip from my drink. "Yeah, I got here this morning. I've got to say though, the welcoming committee kinda sucked. Some guy tried to run me over. I might just end up skipping town to be honest, because so far my experience here hasn't been great. I can't even find a job and if I don't find a job then there's no point of me being here," I admitted. The first part was supposed to be, yet again, a joke, but the second bit was said in all seriousness.

Even though I would have a lot of fun getting to know Dimitri more, it wasn't exactly enough reason for me to stay in town, especially seeing as I was in desperate need of an all too elusive job. No one was going to employ me. The country was in a freaking recession. If there were any jobs out there in the world, people were going to employ their friends and neighbours over some stranger who had randomly turned up in town.

"You're looking for a job?" Dimitri asked. I nodded, looking at him as if he was an idiot, because I had just said that I was looking for a job. I mean, I knew I was highly attractive and all, but that was no excuse not to listen to what I had to say.

"Yeah."

"Come with me," Dimitri said, standing up. I just watched him, completely confused as to how the conversation had gotten to this point.

"Seriously? You think I'm going to go for a wander through the night with you, even though you've already tried to kill me once today?" I said jokingly, as I got up and followed him out of the bar.

Dimitri turned to face me. "I think I might be able to help you get a job," he told me, waving down a cab for us.

"Okay...and what would this mysterious job entail? I'm up for most things, but I refuse to do anything too kinky," I informed him teasingly. It was kind of true. I wasn't exactly ready to sell my body for money, but I would basically do anything else as long as I got paid. What can I say? My morals were questionable at times.

He just rolled his eyes at my comment and spoke quietly to the driver of the cab who had just pulled up in front of us. "Shut up and get in the taxi, Rose," Dimitri basically ordered me. I complied, only because he then, very gentlemanly like, I hasten to add, opened up the car door for me.

The car journey only took five minutes or so, in which we chattered aimlessly between ourselves about nothing in particular. It was kind of sickening sitting that close to the guy though, if I were to be completely honest. Not only did he look great, he smelled great as well. It just wasn't fair. How could a person be so perfect?

All too soon for my liking, the cab pulled up outside yet another bar, but this one looked a lot less sleazy than the last. For starters, it was properly lit, which was always a nice sign. Dimitri got out of the car and paid the driver whilst I stumbled out after him, completely ungraceful. Like I had said, I wasn't that big of a drinker, and so the four beers I had consumed had gone straight to my head. I just hoped that whatever job Dimitri had in mind for me didn't need me to be sober tonight, because I was definitely a little bit drunk.

We walked into the bar. Dimitri turned to face me, telling me to "stop right there," before walking up to some guy stood behind the bar. He looked like the same age as Dimitri, and the way they fondly greeted each other I guessed they were good friends. Well, I hoped they were good friends. For all I knew, they were gay lovers, which although was totally fine by me, was kind of a bummer considering all the dirty things I really wanted to do with Dimitri.

Whilst they chatted away, I took my time to look around the place. It seemed nice enough. It seemed more than nice, actually. It actually looked like a proper business. Music was gently blaring from the speakers as customers chatted away to each other over drinks and food. Most of them looked respectable as well.

I looked back at Dimitri and his friend, who was looking at me curiously. I sighed, knowing that he was probably judging me to. I knew how the situation looked. I probably looked some random, pretty girl who had charmed Dimitri into finding a job for her. But believe me, if I was going to charm Dimitri, it would involve a king sized bed, not job hunting.

Dimitri beckoned me forwards, and so I walked up to the two men, giving a slightly awkward wave. "Rose, this is Ivan. Ivan, this is Rose," Dimitri said, introducing us.

I mocked saluted Ivan for some strange reason that I didn't fully understand myself. "Hey," I said brightly, trying to seem normal and sane. From experience I knew people were more likely to hire you if you didn't seem like a complete whack job.

"Dimitri says you looking for a job?" Ivan asked. I nodded in response. "I might be able to help, I suppose. I'll give you a trial run and we'll see how you fare, okay?"

I grinned like the total idiot I was. "That seems like a plan to me."

"Great. You start tomorrow. Now, if you're not going to buy anything, get the hell out of my bar," Ivan said, half joking about the last bit. Well, I guessed he was joking. He had a serious glint in his eyes that made me doubt whether or not he was just kidding.

Ivan walked off to serve a customer, leaving me and Dimitri standing awkwardly close. In fact, I could feel his arm brush against my side. Not that I minded. In fact, I could get used to being this close to such a god. But suddenly Dimitri took a step back, glancing at his watch. "Well, I should get going," he informed me, edging closer to the door.

I grabbed hold of his arm, feeling a spark of excitement jolt through my body as my skin touched his. "Wait, I just want to say thank you. You really didn't have to do that for me. I'm just some random girl who you nearly ran over, and you've been nothing but kind to me. You're quite the knight in shining armour, Comrade," I told him affectionately, standing on my tiptoes so I could place a chaste kiss on his cheek.

Personally, I wanted the kiss to be anything but chaste, but I knew that trying to maul his mouth off with my tongue was probably moving a little too quickly. Plus the kiss was actually quite nice. My lips softly brushed against his cheek, lingering at the side of his own lips before I pulled away, smiling brightly. "I guess I'll be seeing you," I said, walking away before I did something completely stupid, like rip his shirt off and do him in the middle of a packed bar.

I smirked to myself, knowing that by the end of my time here, I was going to have Dimitri right where I wanted him; in my bed. I was going to make it my own personal mission to make him mine. It was the only thing I wanted. It was the only thing I cared about. And if there was one thing about me, it was that I always got my own way.

* * *

**AN: I'm having such a blast writing this that I thought I'd write another chapter already. I forgot to say this last time, but seeing as it's kinda blantantly obvious, y'all probably worked it out already; this is an all-human story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you around next time.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN VA!**


	3. Chapter 3

The last customers had just made their way out of the door, and I sighed in relief. My first shift had been completely manic. There was no other way to describe it than utter chaos. It was apparent as soon as I walked in that Ivan's Bar and Grill – a very imaginative name, if you ask me – was the number one place to be.

Ivan had thrown an apron at my head and ordered me to wait on tables all night, with no added instruction. I had to admit, at first I felt a bit lost, but I guessed it was some sort of initiation, to see if I had any initiative. Plus, it wasn't as if I've never waited before. I was practically the queen of waitressing.

I just got on with it, praying that I was doing the right thing. Ivan didn't exactly look like the guy who wanted to be interrupted. He didn't look like the guy who wanted his staff running to him every five minutes, asking him what they were doing. He just tended to stand behind the bar, surveying the room and randomly barking orders at the other waitresses. He basically ignored me the entire time.

I was currently wiping down the tables, humming gently to the music playing in the background. Everyone else was tidying and putting things away, so I just grabbed a cloth and got on with cleaning up my section.

"Hey Rose?" Ivan said, looking up from the beer glasses he was currently stacking onto the shelf. I paused my cleaning and looked at him, suddenly worried by the concerned look he was currently wearing.

"What is it?" I asked him, trying to be as nonchalant about it as possible. He was going to fire me, I was sure of it. The only reason he had given me a trial run in the first place was because Dimitri had begged him and Dimitri was his friend, meaning he couldn't say no. But now Ivan had done his side of the bargain and now he was going to sack me.

I frowned. It wasn't fair. I was probably going to have to thumb a ride to the next town and start over there, which was a massive shame because Missoula seemed like it was going to be an interesting place. Plus the views here were pretty spectacular, and I wasn't just talking about the landscape.

"How old did you say you were?" he asked me, quizzically. I but down on my lip, wondering if this was some sort of trick. After all, I had claimed to be 21 when I wasn't. Maybe Ivan had figured that out and was trying to see if I was going to tell the truth or lie some more.

I faltered slightly, trying to figure out a way I could wriggle myself out of this one. "Well, my ID states I'm 21," I informed him, deciding to leave out the bit about my ID being completely and utterly fake.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Ivan was able to read my mind. "Your ID is probably as fake as Avery's boobs," he replied quickly, pointing to one of the other bar staff. Avery pouted at him from the other side of the room, and glared at her boss.

"Hey, that's not fair," she stropped as she placed her hands on her hips, frowning as she paused from her cleaning. Seeing as she didn't dispute Ivan's comment, I guessed that those two pups she was carrying around weren't originally hers though.

"I admit, maybe it was uncalled for but it's true. Now get back to work Lazar," Ivan barked at her, causing Avery to pout even more, before turning his attention back to me. "How old are you?"

I sighed, leaning against the bar. "I'm nineteen," I admitted truthfully, before adding on "and a half." I closed my eyes, praying that he wouldn't fire me for lying. It wasn't as if I needed to be 21 to wait on tables. It just meant I couldn't technically step behind the bar and serve alcohol to customers. And it wasn't like that was necessary. I was only working in a freaking bar, for Christ's sake.

"Uhuh," Ivan muttered quietly to himself.

I pursed my lips together, "Are you going to fire me?" I asked him cautiously, not really wanting to know the answer because I had a horrible notion that the answer would be 'yes'.

"It's hard to fire someone I haven't technically hired," Ivan commented, causing me to glare slightly at him. If he wasn't going to give me a job then I figured I could be a total bitch to him. After all, I needed a job. I needed him to give me a job. And if he wasn't going to do that, then I would be leaving town tomorrow morning.

"Oh," I replied, dropping my cloth. There was really no point in sticking around a cleaning a place I didn't even work at. "I guess I'll just get my things and go, then."

I started to move towards the back room, but Ivan started to speak again, stopping me in my tracks. "Hey, I didn't say you could go. I said I haven't hired you yet. You have a job, Rose. Sure, I really could do with some help behind the bar, but you're a pretty good waitress. I would say you're better than everybody else who works here, but that doesn't take much. Avery is as useless as a cat flap in an elephant house," he told me, saying the last bit loud enough so that Avery could hear him insult her. She huffed some more, but Ivan paid no attention to her strop.

I couldn't help but smirk at his comment. Avery did seem pretty useless. She could only carry on plate at a time. She messed up orders. She dropped drinks onto customers. She seemed like a complete and utter airhead. But then again, maybe she was smarter than she looked. She knew which customers to flirt with to get bigger tips from and which ones to avoid. I was pretty sure I had seen one guy tip her a twenty just for bringing him a beer.

Plus there was the small matter that I was quite happy. And by 'quite happy', I meant I was absolutely and completely ecstatic. I had a job, which meant I was going to be in town for a bit, which meant I could hang out with Dimitri, which meant I could stare at him dreamily in a euphoric state.

"Oh my god, Ivan! Thank you so much!" I squealed, jumping up and down before crashing into him as I pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," I chanted, laughing in glee.

He patted me awkwardly on the back, obvious not use to this type of affection from girls he had only just met before pulling away. "Get off me. You can go home now, Rose. I'll see you tomorrow for your shift," he said, and with that, I was dismissed for the night.

* * *

Juggling two cups of steaming coffee, I headed over to the place Dimitri worked. Before leaving work last night, I may or may not have sneaked into Ivan's office in an attempt to find Dimitri's work address. And seeing as I was currently standing outside of his garage, I think it was safe to say I had found what I had been looking for.

I paused for a moment, contemplating whether or not tracking down where Dimitri worked classified as me being a stalker. But then I remembered how completely hot he was which helped me to shrug off my worries.

Flicking my hair behind my shoulder and putting on my best man-eating smile, I walked into the garage, carefully not to trip up on anything lying around the floor and make myself look like even more of a fool. Seriously, the guy probably didn't want anything to with me. I was the idiot who nearly got herself run over. I was the pathetic girl who couldn't find a job. He was probably counting down the days until I left town.

But I was nothing but determined. I was on a mission to make him like me. I was going to make him mine before I left. Sure, I wasn't looking for anything serious, but I wanted some fun. I needed to have some fun. And anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to get him into my bed. Most guys would kill for the 'no-strings-attached' type of relationship that I was currently looking for.

"Comrade?" I called out, not seeing him in the garage. There was a muffled yell, but I couldn't work out where said yell came from. I scoured the room, trying o find some sort of hidden office where he might be hiding, but I couldn't see anything. I couldn't see him.

Obviously he had heard me shout, so I figured I might as well stick around and wait for him to find me. Well, I hope it was Dimitri who had yelled back at me. Otherwise I would have to deal with a rather weird conversation with a complete stranger.

Suddenly a body rolled out from beneath one of the cars in the garage. I had no idea what type it was, other than it was red and shiny. Dimitri was lying on his back, part of his lower body obscured by the car he was working on.

The top half of his body though, was just...wow. There were no other words to describe him. His work overalls were tied neatly around his waist, meaning that the only thing stopping me from getting a good eyeful of his glorious chest was the wife-beater he was wearing. And hell, it clung to his perfectly chiselled six-pack, leaving little for my overactive imagination to do.

I was nearly drooling at the sight of him. But then I remembered I was supposed to be seductive and alluring, not needy and pathetic, so I mentally shook myself, trying to rid the images that were running wild in my mind. "Hey," I told him, trying to sound calm and collected as I watched him intently as he wiped his brow with a rag bit of material.

"Hey, Rose," he replied, climbing up off of the floor. He looked at me, raising a single eyebrow as if silently asking me what I was doing.

"I brought you coffee," I said, offering him a cup. He took it gratefully from me, gulping half of the cup's content down quickly before thanking me for it.

"Not that I don't appreciate it, because believe me, I do, but why exactly are you bringing me coffee?" he asked me, indicating for me to sit down on a stool next to his workbench. I followed his lead and sat down, sipping my coffee daintily.

In all honesty, I wanted to gulp the thing down as quickly as Dimitri had; I was desperate need of a caffeine fix after my shift last night. But I barely had any money to my name, so I had to make my coffee last as I wasn't going to be able to afford another one until I got paid.

"I just wanted to say thank you for helping me get a job. Ivan gave me a full time position last night," I informed him, delight bursting inside me as I noticed his eyes light up at the news. I could quite literally spend the rest of my life looking into Dimitri's life. They were just so warm and so welcoming and so inviting.

Dimitri smiled at me, a couple of dimples appearing at the side of his oh so delicious lips. "You thanked me the other night," he reminded me. I blushed slightly, remembering the fact that I got a little too excited over the prospect of a job. I mean, I had only known him a day then and I had kissed him. But then again, it was only on the cheek, and I had done a lot more to guys I had known for a lot less time.

Plus, I wasn't going to apologize for it. I wasn't going to be ashamed about it because in all honesty, I had enjoyed it way too much to actually regret doing it. "You coming into the bar tonight?" I asked shamelessly, trying to not sound too excited by the prospect of spending some time with him later on.

"Yes," he replied quickly, the words leaving his mouth before I had even finished asking the question. I laughed, watching in delight as a small blush appeared under his tanned cheeks. I felt like jumping for joy. But before I could say anything – or tease him for his eagerness at wanting to spend more time with me – the phone rang.

Reluctantly, he got up and walked towards the annoying ringing, "I'll see you later," he told me, before answering the phone.

I just nodded, smiling happily to myself as I walked out of the garage, the bright sun glaring into my eyes. It was a beautiful day. And I was in an especially good mood. Although I was disappointed that I couldn't spend all day chatting to Dimitri, there wasn't much to damper my high spirits. I had to be realistic about it as well. I couldn't expect Dimitri to fall for my charms straight away. I mean, I was awesome and all, but I wasn't a miracle worker. I had to be realistic about it.

Plus there was the fact that most of the fun was in the chase, and hell, everyone knew I liked to have my fun.

* * *

**AN: And that's another chapter written (and hopefully this time I'll have updated the right chapter to the right story. Sorry to everybody who had to read the Pillars of Sand chapter I accidentally clicked =/) Erm...let's see...I forgot to say this last time - and the time before that - but this story is AU and OOC, although hopefully that's pretty obvious and no one is confused by it. I think that's all, other than I'm having a blast writing this, which you might be able to tell by the fact that I've written 3 chapters in 2 days. I probably won't update again till next weekend because I'm lacking internet access this week, so I guess I'll see you then!**

**Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review...even though most of them were basically telling me I'm an idiot...which I am =D**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN VA!**


	4. Chapter 4

The moment Ivan said my shift was finished, I snuck over to Dimitri's table. He had kept his promise, and was currently sitting in my section, eating a steak burger and nursing a bottle of beer. Unfortunately, the bar was, yet again, packed to full capacity, and I had barely any time to talk to him. In fact, I had just about managed to take his order before my focus had been dragged to some other customer.

I nearly accidentally on purpose spilt their drinks on them for spoiling what I was sure would have been a truly awesome moment between Dimitri and me, but then I remembered that I practically lived off tips. Actually, that was a lie. I completely and utterly lived off tips.

In one swift moment, I sat down on the chair opposite Dimitri and grabbed a couple of his fries from his plate, munching on them as he looked up, in surprise. Obviously he hadn't seen me coming, and I felt giddy. Not from the fact that I was going to spend five glorious minutes in his company, but more to do with the fact that I had managed to sneak up on him. What can I say? I was basically a ninja.

"Hey," I said between mouthfuls of fries, debating whether or not taking a sip from his drink was going a step too far. Actually, I was pretty sure eating his food was a step too far, seeing as I had only met the guy three days ago. But then again, I was never one to comply with social norms. Social norms were boring. Being normal was boring. I was the type of girl who put ketchup on tacos, for Christ's sake.

"I don't think you're supposed to eat the food off customer's plates," Dimitri informed me slowly and seriously. I looked up, wondering if I had pushed my luck with him, but his eyes were twinkling slightly, and I realised he was only teasing with me.

I stuck my tongue out in reply, unable to think of anything funny or witty to say in return. Dimitri took a sip of his drink before turning his attention back to me. "How come you're waiting tables? I thought Ivan would have you behind the bar, charming the customers."

I grimaced slightly, predicting that this conversation wasn't going to end well. Sure, it wasn't like I had lied to him; I never claimed to be 21. But I didn't tell Dimitri that I wasn't 21 either. He obviously thought that was how old I was, and I hadn't disagreed with him. I hadn't told him he was wrong. Plus, I was nineteen. My age really wasn't a problem. It wasn't an issue.

But Dimitri seemed like the type of guy who would make an issue out of it. I couldn't really claim to know the guy – after all, we had only just met three days ago – but he seemed a little highly strung. Maybe that was a bit too critical of me. Maybe I was being harsh on him. But I just couldn't see him being completely fine with the fact I was only nineteen. I just couldn't see that happening.

On the other hand, lying about my age wasn't exactly something I was willing to do. Ivan already knew how old I was, so it would be only a matter of time before he shared that information with Dimitri. Taking a deep breath, I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible as I opened my mouth to speak. "I'm not technically twenty-one," I told him, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal. And it wasn't a big deal. It was a teeny, tiny thing that should be brushed to the side and completely forgotten.

Dimitri, on the other hand, seemed to disagree with that though. The easy going smile he had been wearing fell from his lips as he frowned, pushing away his plate as if my revelation had caused him to lose his appetite. "How old is 'not technically twenty-one?" he asked cautiously, as if he didn't want to hear the answer.

Without missing a beat, I replied, "Nearly twenty."

Dimitri nodded slowly. "And how old is 'nearly twenty'?" he asked, not liking my answer. He was refusing to look me in the eyes, and I started to wonder if I should have lied, because it looked like I had blown all my chances of getting him into bed with me.

"Nineteen and a half. And I promise you, that is my actual age. Well no, that's a lie. Technically I'm nineteen and seven months and twelve days. Does that suffice?" I said, feeling like he was judging me for something I hadn't done.

I liked to think of myself as being laidback and easy going, but in actuality, I got wound up pretty easily. I usually tried to mask my annoyance with a smirk or a smile, but Dimitri's look of condemnation was really irritating me. It wasn't like I had done anything wrong. It wasn't like I had lied.

Dragging my chair against the slate flooring, I got up. "I'm heading back to my hotel," I told him sulkily, not bothering to wait for a reply.

He quickly caught up with me. I had managed to get halfway across the car park before I heard him calling my names. "Yeah?" I asked, not caring that I sounded rude.

"Let me walk you home," Dimitri said gallantry, quickly matching my brisk pace. Damn his exceedingly long legs, I thought to myself.

I rolled my eyes at him comment. "You know, I am quite capable of walking by myself," I informed him.

"I know. I'd just feel a lot better if I knew you got home safely," he said, causing me to roll my eyes at him again. How could someone be that nice and caring? It was almost sickening. I almost wanted to gauge my eyes out because of him.

"Fine," I muttered, allowing him this one. I didn't know why I was so annoyed. Maybe it was because I had done nothing but work my butt off the past few days. I wasn't just tired; I was exhausted. "Although I hope you realise that people will talk because of this," I joked dryly, referring to the fact that the age difference between us obviously bothered him.

Dimitri didn't say anything, which annoyed me even more. He was the one who had insisted on walking me back to the hotel; he could at least talk to me instead of making it difficult and awkward between us. This only spurred me on more; I wanted a response from him. I needed a response from him.

Plus, there wasn't much I could say that could make the situation worse, so there really was no reason for me to shut my cakehole. "What's your problem anyway?"

Dimitri looked down at me, surprised that I had called him out on it. Maybe he thought I would just let it go, but obviously he didn't know me well. Obviously, he didn't know me well. He had only nearly run me down a few days ago. We weren't exactly the best of friends.

He sighed, running his hands through his hair, which made it hard for me to dislike him. Seriously, why did the guy have to be so hot? It made being annoyed at him a really hard task. "You're just a kid, Rose."

"I'm nineteen," I reminded him. Nineteen wasn't a kid. I was a legal adult. I could do anything any other adult could do, just not drink, gamble or kill anyone. But to be fair, no one was supposed to kill anyone.

"You're still a teenager," he counted back seriously.

I just snorted softly to myself. Yes, I was a teenager. But I wouldn't be a teenager in a few months time. In a few months I would be twenty, which was practically twenty-one...near enough. "So what? This is so much worse for me. You're old. You're nearly thirty," I reminded him. Dimitri had told me other night at the bar – the sleazy one where he found me job hunting – that he was 26, which was a good seven years older than me.

"I'm not nearly thirty," he replied quickly, almost desperately.

I laughed at this. "Uhuh. You're closer to thirty than you are twenty." I had always hated maths when I was in school, mainly because it completely confused me, but I knew the basics when it came to rounding up. And if Dimitri was closer to thirty, that meant that technically, just technically, his age could be rounded up to fifty. But seeing the desperate – almost pathetic – look he was currently wearing, I decided it probably wasn't the best time to bring that bit of information up.

"Oh god, don't say that," he muttered quietly, causing me to laugh again. Obviously he didn't like to think himself as being old. And really, he wasn't that old; it was just really fun to wind him up about it.

"You know, hanging out with me helps reduce aging," I told him, trying to sound sagely wise, but failing miserably. There was no chance in hell I could ever sound wise. Rose Hathaway and wisdom really didn't go hand in hand.

I glanced around, trying to get my bearings. I was so focused on our conversation that I had no idea where we were. I wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was walking, which given our past history, probably wasn't the smartest thing. After all, Dimitri had nearly killed me because I hadn't been paying attention. It took me a few minutes, but then I realised that we were a couple of blocks away from my hotel.

He looked down at me, sighing sadly to himself. "That's the whole point; I like you Rose. I really like you. But you're too young," he said quickly and quietly, as if he didn't want me to hear him; as if he didn't want to admit it.

I couldn't help but laugh. I didn't mean to. He was being deadly serious and I owed it to him to be deadly serious as well. But I just couldn't stop myself from chuckling. He looked at me, startled and confused as to why I was laughing at him. Sure, he was hot. Sure, I desperately wanted him in my bed, next to me, completely naked.

But I wasn't going to force him to do that. I wasn't that desperate. I was happy just being friends with him, if that's what he really wanted. "Dimitri, is there some sort of rule or law that states that you're not allowed to be friends with people under a certain age that I should be aware of?"

He stared at me, dumbfounded. "No," he said slowly.

"So can we be friends?" I asked him, speaking as if I was speaking to a small, irritable child.

"I suppose so," Dimitri replied, coming to a stop as my hotel came into view. I looked up at the building, not particularly looking forward to a long night in by myself. Don't get me around, I was awesome. But sometimes I even found myself to be tediously annoying.

"Jeez, Dimitri, sound a little more enthusiastic about the prospect of being my friend," I told him jokingly, searching through my bag to find my elusive room key. I seriously should attempt to clean my bag out at some point, because it was getting harder and harder to locate my belongings in it. In fact, I was pretty sure there was some sort of monster currently living in my purse, because I lost everything in there. It was like some sort of weird, black hole.

"Sorry," he mumbled awkwardly, shuffling a little from side to side, obviously unsure whether he should follow me into the hotel or not.

I decided to go easy on him. I decided to be nice to him, for a change. I decided not to elongate the obvious awkward tension between us any longer than it needed to be."Thanks for walking me back," I told him, edging closer to the front door. "I'll see you around," and with that and a small wave, I left him standing on the sidewalk all by himself.

I hopped into the elevator, even though my room was on the second floor. I was exhausted though, and seriously couldn't be bothered to climb up to flights of stairs. I leaned against the wall, wondering how I was going to get Dimitri to change his mind. What I had said earlier was a complete lie; I wasn't going to let him slip through my hands that easily. Being friends with him just wasn't enough for me. He was too hot for me to be just friends with him. He was just too hot for me to give up completely.

* * *

**AN: I would say thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, but no one did ... awkward. So erm, I'm really enjoying writing this story, mainly because it's the only cheerful thing in my life at the moment (god, that sounds depressing but yeah...I think I'm suffering from a case of winter blues, even though technically it's autumn...anyway...moving on) but if no one else is, can you please tell me? I'm not one to beg for reviews, it's just, I'd rather carry on writing this for my own pleasure and keep it to myself, than have it published and ignored...so yeah...that's it really...**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN VA**


	5. Chapter 5

My music was blaring loudly as I danced around the room, bouncing hyperactively off of the walls. It was my first day off in a couple of weeks, and I was glad to spend the time having a much needed rest. That said, I was just happy to have a day off, that I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and do nothing all day. I was just too excited to not do anything. I wanted to do something. I wanted to go somewhere. Only problem was that I didn't know my way around.

Sure, I liked to think of myself as an explorer, but in all honesty, my sense of direction sucked. In fact, it sucked so much that I actually doubted whether or not I had a sense of direction. I could get myself completely and utterly lost in five minutes, what with my small attention span. I was just too amazed at the world around me that I tended to forget to take note of which way I had walked.

The phone started shrilling loudly, causing me to freeze and look guiltily at my CD player. I turned the music off, cautiously picking up the handset. I was pretty sure I was going to get yelled at by the management for playing my music too loud. Even I had to admit my music was loud, but that was just the way I liked to listen to it.

"Hello?" I said, wondering whether or not I could get away with denying I was the cause of the loud noises coming from the second floor. Probably not though; the people who ran the hotel seemed to hate me. I think it was because they thought I was going to do a runner before I paid my bill.

"Good morning, Miss Hathaway," a chirpy voice replied. I wanted to puke at how chirpy they sounded. Sure, I was in a good mood and all, but I didn't have the need to inform the entire world by speaking like a children's TV presenter. "There's someone waiting downstairs in reception who wants to see you."

And with that, she hung up with me. "Huh," I said to myself, wondering who my mystery guest could be. I shrugged and grabbed my key, before making my way downstairs. I probably should have stopped and gotten changed beforehand, seeing as I was still wearing my extremely colourful pyjamas, but I wasn't going to make all that effort and then find out that whoever wanted to talk to me wasn't that important.

I skipped down the stairs, intrigued at who my mystery caller could be. I hadn't exactly made many friends in Missoula; I had been too busy working to have time to socialise. And although I spoke to Dimitri in passing, he was obviously trying to keep his distance from me. I suppose I should be insulted by the fact he was avoiding me, but in a warped sort of way, I felt that it was some sort of twisted compliment.

By avoiding me, he was basically admitting he liked me. He was practically admitting that he liked me more than friends, because he didn't want to chance falling for me. I smirked, playing with my messy hair that was falling out of my bun and walked into the lobby, not caring that I looked like a complete mess.

My smirk grew into a massive grin as I spotted Dimitri's towering form loitering near the desk. I couldn't help but laugh quietly to myself as I walked up to him. "Fancy meeting you here," I said in way of a greeting. He looked down at me in surprise, obviously not paying attention to his surroundings because I had managed to sneak up on him without him even realising.

"Hey," he said in reply, trying hard not to smile as he took in my appearance.

I placed my hand on my hip as I waited for him to finish looking me up and down. It wouldn't have been too bad if he was blatantly checking me out, but I knew he wasn't; my pyjamas weren't even that revealing. No, he had a look of total shock on his face, as if he couldn't quite believe I was wandering around a hotel lobby in my pyjamas. Not that he had any right to judge me when it came to fashion; he was the one wearing a duster, for Christ's sake. My choice of clothing was much better than his.

Yet again, an awkward silence had descended onto us. "This is the part why you try to convince me you're not actually stalking me and you have a legit reason to be hanging out in the lobby of the hotel where I'm staying," I told him, mock whispering.

My comment seemed to wake him up from whatever trance he had accidentally found himself falling into. "Oh right. Er, I thought I'd come and see if you want to hang out? I know you've been working most days and probably haven't had chance to look around, so I thought that maybe I'd give you a tour," he muttered quickly and swiftly, as if he didn't quite want me to hear what he had said.

But what he had said made me smile broadly. Just the thought of spending a day in Dimitri's company made me go all gooey inside. "That sounds awesome," I told him, "I just have to go get changed. Come on, you can wait in my room whilst I'm getting ready," I informed him, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him upstairs to my room.

I was half afraid that he might come to his senses and realised that he had invited me to spend time with him, before doing a runner, and I was intent on making sure that wouldn't happen. I wouldn't let it happen. It couldn't happen. It just couldn't.

"Sit there," I instructed him as we entered my room, pointing to my double bed, before I headed to my overflowing suitcase to retrieve my clothes. He sat on the edge of the bed carefully, as if he didn't want to touch anything. I chuckled to myself quietly, noticing the slight blush on Dimitri's tanned face and the way he sat rigid and awkwardly. I routed through my belongings, throwing most of my clothes onto the floor as I tried desperately to find something clean to wear.

I finally found a clean top and skirt, and giving a little yelp of delight, I walked over to the bathroom and got changed in three minutes flat. I grabbed hold of my hair and twirled it into a quick bun, and ran some eyeliner around my face. I didn't look brilliant, but I looked good enough. And when you had a face like mine, you could practically get away without making any effort at all, because people like me always looked amazing.

"Okay, I'm ready," I told Dimitri, hurtling out of the bathroom and towards him. A bark of laughter – probably due to my over enthusiastic nature – escaped his lips as he stood up gracefully. I led him out of the room, down the stairs and out onto the street whilst a comfortable silence descended onto us.

It didn't stay quiet long though. Even though it wasn't that awkward between the two of us, I couldn't keep silent for long. Rose Hathaway and quietness just didn't go together; it was as if my mouth had been programmed to splurge out random garble every time some paused for breath.

"So you've lived here your entire life?" I asked, trying to make conversation as I tried to make the situation seem less awkward and strained.

Dimitri looked confused and shook his head. "No. I'm Russian, remember?"

"Oh yeah..." I mumbled in reply, feeling idiotic that I had forgotten his nationality. I could have possibly gotten away with forgetting if it wasn't for the fact I had come up with the nickname 'comrade' for him. Again, silence descended on us like an unwanted third party. The only other sound was the cars on the road, zooming past us as we awkwardly trundled along. "How long have you lived here then?"

"Just over ten years," Dimitri said, not expanding any further. It was my turn to frown in his general direction. He was making it extremely hard to talk to him; it was like he didn't want to spend time in my glorious presence. But I knew that couldn't be the case: A) I was amazing and everyone wanted to hang out with my awesomeness and B) he had been the one to ask me to hang.

"Why did you move?" I asked, cringing slightly as I realised that I had done nothing but ask question after endless question, silently hoping that Dimitri would stop using monosyllabic words as answers.

To my surprise and to my relief, his next answer contained a word of four entire syllables, which nearly made me bounce up and down with excitement. "It's complicated", he said mysteriously. He was probably hoping that I wouldn't be blunt enough to ask him to expand, because he turned away from me slightly, as if physically finishing the conversation between the two of us, as his pace quickened, putting at least a stride of space between us. But I was curious. And I was as blunt as a hammer.

"Yeah?" I asked, unable to help myself from asking yet another question. A part of me was hoping that I would annoy him so much that he would just cooperate with me and give me a straight answer for once. I would prise the answers from him if it was the last thing I did.

Dimitri sighed heavily, turning to face me yet again. "Yeah," he parroted me, ending the conversation there and then.

"Okay..." I muttered, giving up. It was obvious the guy didn't want to talk about it, and even my amazing talents probably couldn't even get him to open up about whatever issues were lurking in the back of his closet.

Dimitri paused, causing me to stumble slightly and run into the back of him. "Look, no offense Rose, but I don't really want to talk about it. Can we please change the subject?" he asked, his eyes silently pleading with me to drop the subject.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?" I asked, handing over the reins of control to him.

"Why don't we talk about you?" he asked, smirking ever so slightly as he turned the tables onto me. Mentally I shirked away, but I didn't want to appear like a hypocrite in front of Dimitri. After all, I had done nothing but relentlessly ask him question after question, so I suppose it was his turn now to interrogate me.

"There's not much to talk about," I replied nonchalantly.

Dimitri looked down at me, his expression clearly showing his disbelief. "I don't believe you. You're the most intriguing person I've ever met, Roza."

"That's debatable," I muttered. "I'm nothing special. Sure, I had a crappy childhood, but so did half of the freaking country. I'm just a girl who doesn't know when to shut her mouth and who doesn't really have a grasp on road safety," I told him, referring back to the fact that I had walked out in front of Dimitri's car. Not that he needed reminding. I had brought it up in near enough every conversation we had since that delightful event.

"I guess we both don't want to talk about our pasts," Dimitri noted, and I nodded in agreement. It wasn't that anything really terrible had ever happened to me. Sure, I had had a few crappy relationships in the past, and sure, I wasn't exactly close to my mom, nor did I have a single clue who my father was, but other than that, my childhood was perfectly alright. I had Lissa. I had Mason. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to change anything, so there wasn't much point in doing it.

I was all for living in the present; living in the moment. I did what I wanted, when I wanted. I was a free spirit, in control of my own life. Sharing my thoughts with Dimitri, he smiled. "You know, I'm a little bit envious of you. I wish I could go travelling, see the world."

"What's stopping you?" I asked, my interest suddenly perking.

Dimitri sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I can't leave here. My family is here, and I've got to support them. My sister's in college and someone has to help pay her tuition fees."

Unable to stop myself, I blurted out, "Why do you have to be the responsible one? Why do you have to pay for her?" In hindsight, it was a stupid question. It was an insensitive question. I mean, Dimitri had already told me both his parents were alive, even though his father wasn't in the scene. But I had no idea if his mother could work; for all I knew she was seriously ill and unable to work.

Dimitri shrugged, "Because I want to and because I care about my family," was all he said. His tone was simplistic, almost nonchalant, as if his answer was obvious. And in some ways, I suppose it was.

"Huh. I guess I wouldn't know about that," I muttered under my breath to myself, but Dimitri must have heard me because he shot me a questioning look. "I'm not exactly close to my mom. Growing up, I tended to be in the way. I spent most of my time at my best friend Lissa's house. Hell, by the time I was sixteen I had practically moved in with her and her family," I told him.

His eyes shone with pity. I physically shuddered, not liking the look he was giving me. Like I had told him, I wasn't the only kid who had a crappy upbringing. I wasn't special. I had a roof ever my head and I was fed three times a day, so it wasn't as if I had suffered in any way. I didn't want his pity. I didn't need his pity.

"I can't imagine growing up like that," he said sympathetically. In response, I just shrugged. It didn't bother me really. I had turned out just fine. I was a normal (well, sort of normal), functioning member of society. "I'd do anything for my sisters. I'd do anything to make them happy."

"But what about you?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" he replied, quizzically.

"Are you happy?" I repeated.

"Of course I am," Dimitri said, looking down at me as if I had grown two heads.

"I don't believe you," I replied, my tone light, but my words completely seriously. I didn't think that Dimitri was truly happy. After all, he had told me minutes before that he was jealous of me and jealously usually tended to stem from unhappiness.

"Well I am," he argued, but his tone wasn't exactly convincing. Well, his tone wasn't convincing me, anyway.

I looked straight up at him, right into those glorious eyes of his. "Right," I said, my tone full of disbelief. Dimitri just frowned, his pace quickening. Realising that I had somewhat offended him, I decided to change tact, but I just couldn't let the conversation go completely. "Look," I said, having to run slightly in an attempt to catch up with him, "when you were a kid, what was your dream?"

I guess my question caught him off guard, because he answered. He sighed, but it more of a reminiscing sigh, rather than a 'Rose you're being really annoying' type of sigh. "You promise not to laugh?" he asked, causing me to nod, although behind my back I had my fingers crossed. "I wanted to be a cowboy," he muttered, rushing his words in an attempt to spit them out, but I still managed to hear them perfectly.

In all honesty, I did try my hardest not to laugh. I really did. I tried to choke down the laughter bubbling in my throat, but I failed miserably. Even after five minutes of full on laughing in his face, I couldn't stop. "I'm so sorry," I managed to splutter out, but the words got lost in my giggles, so I had no idea if Dimitri actually heard my apology.

In all fairness to him, he took my response in good nature. He must have realised that his revelation was going to end in one way; mainly, me laughing hysterically, not really caring about the fact that the other people on the street were giving me weird glances.

"Are you done?" Dimitri asked after several minutes passed. I nodded, unable to speak and gulping down air as I tried to catch my breath.

"I'm so sorry," I repeated, but Dimitri just smiled and shrugged, not really offending by my hysterics. "So, are you going to give me that tour your promised?" I asked, unable to hide my excitement at the fact that I was going to be spending an entire day in his glorious presence. It didn't take much to please me, but I had a slight inkling that today was going to be one of the best days I had ever had.

* * *

**AN: I am so, so SORRY that I have abandoned my lovely readers for so long! Life just got in the way; I've been so busy with uni work and my own writing (I have a super cool project that I'm working on, which I can't wait to share with you guys when the time comes) that my fanfics just got shoved to the bottom of the pile. Again, I am so sorry! Anyway, I hope y'all forgive me and read this latest chapter (and maybe, jus maybe, leave me a review?)**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN VA!**


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